The Price for Peace with God
Romans 5:12-21
If you've been with us the first two Sundays of 2013, you would know that our church's theme for this year is "Peace-making." Peace rarely describes our experience in the hurried and diverse world we live. So knowing how to make peace is vital.
I've had occasions to visit people in the hospital who were near death. I would ask for permission to talk about how to experience total peace. With their permission, I would explain that total peace involves peace of mind, peace in relationships, and peace with God.
I trust as we go through 2013 together, we will learn to experience total peace. And the foundation for total peace is peace with God. That's what we will continue to study this morning.
Last week, we saw that peace with God means to live as a friend of God, rather than an enemy of God. But the Bible tells us that all of us have offended God. We disregard God and His ways. That's the bad news.
Here was the good news from last week's Bible text, Romans 5:1-11: Peace with God simply requires that we trust God to make things right between us. And the Bible tells us that God paid for our offenses against Him. He did this by coming in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, and dying on a cross.
What follows is a common question: Couldn't God have done it some other way? Aren't there more than one way to peace with God? The price of peace with God seems so incredible.
Our text this morning explains why. We continue with Romans 5:12-21. (READ)
The text we read explains the problems we have and the price God paid for our peace with God. Paul jumps back and forth in these verses, from Adam to Jesus and from the problems to the solution. Let's look together.
First, what are our problems? We see these described in vs. 12 to 14, 17a,18a.
The Bible tells us we have three problems and two causes. We have the problem of death, that is the penalty for Adam's sin. Adam is the cause. We have the problem of our own sin, that is we disregard God and His ways. We are the cause. And we have the problem of condemnation, that is God's judgment of our sin.
The first problem sounds unreasonable. You can read about this in Genesis 3. Adam, our first ancestor, sinned against God. As a result, death entered the human race. The assumption then is that before Adam's sin, humans could be immortal.
As Jim Rohn pointed out, "We don't have to like what we learn. But the wise will learn, even what he doesn't like." For instance, when I go to the doctor, I'm asked to fill out a family health history. If my parent had colon cancer, guess what? My chance of colon cancer is increased. If my parent had heart problem; same thing.
I don't like it, but I'd be a fool to ignore it. Death is passed on from Adam. That means we weren't made by God to die. Death is not God's plan; it's mankind's problem.
The second problem our sin. Our sin is the thoughts and deeds we think and do that violates God's law. Without getting into specifics, someone noted, "If I wrote down all the wrong thoughts and deeds I've thought and did in my lifetime, you would think that I am a monster." In our own private and honest evaluation, many of us may agree.
And here is our third problem, God's judgment for our sin: Guilty. A holy God cannot let sin go unpunished. We may not like it. But the wise will learn of this and ask, "What must we do, then?"
Nicky Gumbel tells the story of two really good friends who went down different paths in life. One became a judge and the other a criminal. One day, the criminal appeared before the judge. He committed a crime and pleaded guilty. The judge recognized his old friend and faced a dilemma.
The judge had to be just; he couldn't let his friend off. Yet, he didn't want to punish his friend, because he loved him. So he fined his friend the correct penalty for the offense. That was justice.
Then the judge came down from his position as judge, and wrote a check for the amount of the fine. He gave it to his friend, saying that he would pay the penalty for him. The friend was left with a choice to accept or decline the offer.
That story parallels what the Bible says God, the Judge, did for mankind. But the price was not a dollar amount. The price was God's life in exchange for our lives.
Second, why such a high price? We see this in 15 to 21.
Why did God have to come down from the judge's position and take the form of a man, Jesus Christ? Why did He need to live a sinless life for His years on earth? Why did He have to die? And why did He have to rise from the dead?
The answer to these questions: To pay the price of peace with God. A holy and loving God. Let's consider each act of God.
Why did God need to come as a man? To pay for Adam and mankind's offenses, a man must pay. The Old Testament animal sacrifice could not pay. It only served as a symbol of what is needed. Animal without blemish symbolized a life without sin. Animal blood symbolized payment for death penalty.
Next, why did God have to come as a man to live a sinless life? Because Adam, the first man, sinned in the face of one temptation. Jesus Christ, the God-man, set a new path by living a sinless life in the face of many temptations, trials and tragedies.
Here's what else, God had to come as a man to die for sinful mankind. To pay the penalty for ALL mankind's offenses, a man of infinite worth was needed, the God-man, Jesus Christ. The price had to cover all who trust God to justify. Abraham, before Christ. The Apostle Peter, who was with Christ. We and our descendants, after Christ.
Finally, why did the God-man, Jesus Christ, rise from the dead? To show us He overcame death. To show us death was temporary, and that life with God is eternal.
The price God paid to restore our peace with Him reflected the magnitude of our problem. God didn't send a book. He didn't send a teacher. He didn't send an angel. He came in person, in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, the damages done by Adam and the human race were undone, paid for and overcome.
Third, how can we have peace? We see this in verse 15 to 21 (key verse, 17).
In verses 15 to 21, we see the word, "gift" five times and the word, "grace" five times. Gift is something we don't buy. Grace is something we can't earn. In other words, we can have peace with God if we will receive it as a gift from God.
Verse 17 reads, " For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!"
Let me close with my favorite story from C.H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon tells about a pastor who went to visit a widow on Friday afternoon. He brought along some groceries and some money to help. When he knocked on the door, no one answered. So the pastor went back to the church.
After the worship service on Sunday, the pastor approached the widow to give her the gifts and to tell her he had gone by on Friday afternoon. The widow replied, “Oh, I was home. I didn’t answer the door, because I thought you were the landlord come to collect rent. And I didn’t have any money.
Here's the truth from the story. Yes, we do owe God. And, no, we do not have enough to pay. But the good news is this: God entered our world in the form of a man, not to collect rent. He came to give us what we need for life and peace with Him.
If you want it, it's yours to receive. If you have it, share it by telling someone else. There is enough for everyone. God paid a high price to make sure of that.
Reflection:
Read the below selected verses to review the path to peace with God as covered in the Book of Romans:
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Romans 8:1
Romans 10:9
